winter, work, wages and words

It's flipping cold right now.  Granted, in much colder in many parts of the world, but for here, its a deep freeze kind of cold.  I think its going to get to 20 below tonight.  Today was a high of 6.  I'm talking farenheit here, cause of course, I'm in the US - Massachusetts.  It's cold.  Even I'm cold and I'm seldomly cold.

I was in Virginia last week.  I went to celebrate Christmas with my family.  I work the day after Christmas, so I went to celebrate in January.  When I left, it was snowing.  I was a little worried about my train, but it was still running.  I got down there.  The first day was lovely.  Then, it snowed down there.  It barely snowed, but school was canceled in the area on Friday.  Then, I came back.  I came back to it snowing.

The snow has stopped, and there isn't much of it, but now, it's cold.  Very very cold.

And the family.  I really want to love my family.  But, they make me so nuts.  I find the whole thing depressing.  My nana is really old.  She's almost 90.  She's the last of her siblings to still be alive.  She's forgetful, lost her sight and hearing and generally, not good.  I'm sad to say, the next time I go to Virginia will probably be for her funeral.  Of all the family down there, she's the one I really like.

My dad also isn't doing all that well.  He has Parkinson's.  It sucks, big time.

With all that going on, I can't find compassion for them.  I have so much hostility in me.  After I was there about 2 hours, I remembered why I haven't been down there for 4 years.

And work.  I don't know what is going on.  They aren't paying their bills.  They aren't talking to the people we owe money to.  That's something I would do, not something a huge corporation should be doing.  Are you kidding me?

And the pay cut with the social security increase has hurt me, pretty big time.  It's only like $30 a paycheck, but its $30 I can't afford right now.  I can't wait until I get my W2's and can file my taxes.  That refund will help a bit.

Irony - or something like it

There is a half day in the schools I work with tomorrow.  That means around 11:30, I generally have to run around a bring some lunches to children who forgot them.  I also scheduled therapy for 11am tomorrow.  

And then, I am meant to go to this time management training from 10-noon.  I can't go to time management due to the fact that I can't manage my time and am already over booked.

What do you usually think about on your drive home from work?

I'm feeling well again.  Last night, I slept the entire night without waking up once to cough.  It was SOOO nice.  I feel that within 48 hours I will be perfectly back.

So, I'm back to my regularly scheduled blogging.  In the absence of anything real to write about, I've picked a boundary breaker to answer.

On my way home from work, I think about the day I've had.  Sometimes, I can be proud of what I have accomplished, other times, I think of what I didn't actually get done.  I think about whether or not I brought home what I need in order to get that thing done.

I usually think about my mom at some point during the drive.  I wonder what she would say about some news story (like the royal pregnancy) or odd weather patterns.  I'm pretty good at guessing what she would say, or at least I think I am.

I think about what I am going to make for dinner.

I am usually exhausted and calculate the number of hours until it reaches an acceptable time to go to bed.

I imagine I'm a famous singer, singing my favorite songs in the car.

Some days, I love my job, love the staff, love the kids...

Today was one of those days.  EVERYTHING just seemed to go right.  It was quite nice, I have to admit.  Things just seemed to go well.

My middle schoolers did play a prank on me.  They told me that their counselor, who is also my bff, her water broke (she's obviously pregnant and due in 3 weeks).  This was plausible and made me rather excited.  The thought of her giving birth in my program, was not appealing, but the excitement of a new baby, is wonderful.

As soon as I got to their school, the kids all yelled, "Happy Pranksgiving"  Her water did not break and there was no labor.  I was sad, but rather amused they could get me so easily.

The staff meeting tonight, was also wonderful.  I feel that things are going well and we have a great rapport with each other.  I saw a lot of value in each and every one of them.  I'm happy.

Hurricane Sandy

Geez.  Maybe it really is the end of times.  Last year at this time, we had a snowstorm which caused major havoc for a week or more.  It was unprecedented early for a snowstorm in these parts.

This year, we have Hurricane Sandy.  Unprecedented late and not at all normal for these parts.

First, the school's announced they would be closed.  That was fine.  In that case, we run a snow day program and I was gearing up for that.

Now, my Y has decided they were going to close.  That's definitely not normal, but means a day off for me.  Unfortunately that day off is also the anniversary of mom's death.  Hopefully we'll loose power, and I can just sleep through it.  That would be ideal!

Today was the coolest day ever!

Zombie Run

I'm volunteering at a Zombie run this weekend.  It's a traditional 5K run, except there are obstacles you have to go through and Zombies chase you.  If you finish the run with at least one flag, you can boast that you survived the Zombie apocalypse.  It's pretty cool.  I'm going to be a zombie!

pumpkin picking field trip!

What a day - it was long, but wonderful.

And what full day program is not complete without a 5 year old running out of the locker room into the hallway stark naked because she forgot her bathing suit in the gym.

Best part of today - hearing a parent who usually complains about EVERYTHING that she loved the staff at her son's site and how well her son was doing in school because of the staff.  Excellent.

tomorrow is going to be another LONG day

1.  I hate management sometimes, and I really hate stupid employees who exist to make my job harder.  The thing is, I can deal with a lack of knowledge or incompetence.  But this person does what I expect when I'm around, then the minute I leave, goes back to their old ways.  That just pisses me off.

2. Square dancing starts one week from tomorrow.  I'm excited!

“A boss creates fear, a leader confidence. A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes. A boss knows all, a leader asks questions. A boss makes work drudgery, a leader makes it interesting.”

I've had a hell of a week, namely with the highest sort of management at my job.  Fortunately for me, my supervisor, and her supervisor, agreed with me.

It all boils down to the fact that I had to reprimand his son, who works for me.   I knew that wasn't a good idea to begin with.  And it got all blown up ridiculously.

Now, its over - and not resolved, but over.  I really was kind of wishing I'd get fired over the whole thing.  I'm not one to think, "oh, I'll just sue!" but really, this would have been the best wrongful termination suit ever.

And in the last 24 hours, I've really grown to like this boy with the incredibility annoying father.

Woohoo!

I found my missing envelope of money!  Well, technically my assistant found it.  But either way, I didn't have to sell myself on the street corner to replace the $400.

Phew.

another day...

Just when I think things are settling down, something happens.  I can't find my petty cash envelope for the month.  This sucks.

So, tell me, where does the arrow point to, and who invented roses?

It's quite possible that in less than 10 minutes, I lost a $10,000 grant. But, in my defense, I was honest. The grant is only for 6-8th graders and we applied for k-5th grade. I don't know what the grant writer told her, but I'm not gonna lie about it.

focus group fun!

I participated in this MS focus group thing tonight. It was pretty fun. I had to agree not to disclose anything, so I'm not even sure if I can post even what it was about. But it was MS. That's enough. It was fun, and I get a $25 Amazon gift card for participating.


I also heard back from Avonex, cause I couldn't log on to the Active Support website. They reset my password and I was finally able to log off after MONTHS. I took the little test, which saves my answers from previously - and I'm in a way better mental space than I was a couple months ago.

All in all, its been good. Work stinks. Everytime things get under control, something crazy happens. I can deal with it all tomorrow. Tonight is good!